UAE, Central Asian states boost ties

Suhail Bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, headed the UAE delegation participating in the second Joint Ministerial Meeting of GCC-Central Asian Countries Strategic Dialogue, which was held on Monday in Tashkent.

The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, chair of the current session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Bakhtiyor Saidov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of GCC and Central Asian countries, as well as Dr Jassim Muhammed Albudaiwi, GCC Secretary-General, and Jeyhun Bayramov, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a guest of honour.

In his opening speech, Saidov stressed the importance of relations between GCC and Central Asian countries and expressed his aspiration to strengthen cooperation and coordination in areas of mutual interest to seize opportunities and bolster mechanisms for coordination and cooperation.

The meeting reviewed the latest developments in joint GCC work, discussed the developments related to political issues and the latest developments in the region and the world, as well as a number of issues related to the dialogues and strategic relations between GCC and Central Asian countries and ways to strengthen them, based on the joint action plan for the period 2023-2027 signed by the two parties in September 2022 during the first Joint Ministerial Meeting of GCC-Central Asian Countries Strategic Dialogue.

The UAE delegation included Dr Saeed Matar Al Qemzi, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Uzbekistan, and a number of senior officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Energy and Infrastructure.